dais

noun

da·​is ˈdā-əs 

nonstandard

ˈdī- 

: a raised platform (as in a hall or large room)

Mounting the dais which had been set up for his use, he swirled the sinister cloak about him and sat down in the Abbot's chair.

—Brian Jacques

Synonyms of dais

• podium

Examples of dais in a Sentence

the speaker took his place at the front of the dais

Recent Examples on the Web

From the mezzanine, a man dressed as George Washington watched as King Charles III made his way through the crowd and up to the dais. —Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 29 Apr. 2026

Major Garrett Chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett was sitting at a table close to the dais. —Nicole Brown Chau, CBS News, 27 Apr. 2026

Video of the event shows the president being ushered off the stage a few seconds later, as armed guards wearing tactical gear and large rifles appeared on the dais. —Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 26 Apr. 2026

Arenas asked Thursday during a county committee meeting on child welfare with several department leaders sitting on the dais. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deis, des "high table, elevated platform occupied by a court or council," borrowed from Anglo-French deis, dais (continental Old French deis "table of honor set up on a platform"), going back to Medieval Latin discus "raised table, platform," going back to Latin, "discus, kind of plate, gong," borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong" — more at discus

Note: See note at dish entry 1. The predominant form in Middle French is dois, which should have resulted in Modern French [dwa]; the reason for the outcome dais [dɛ], with the presumed shift [dwɛ] to [dɛ], is in this, as in a number of parallel cases, unclear. As pointed out by the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, the English word was, excepting Scots, out of use by 1600; the current word is an antiquarian revival, with the spelling presumably copying modern French.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dais

• baize
• bays
• blase
• blaze
• braes
• braze
• chaise
• claes
• clays
• craze
• days
• daze

Kids Definition

dais

noun

da·​is ˈdā-əs 

: a raised platform (as in a large room)